Instrument clusters for a vehicle are typically located on a vehicle dashboard and may include a speedometer, tachometer, engine condition indicator, ABS braking indicator, and other vehicle marks. This cluster of display marks may have lighting to illuminate each mark, when appropriate. For example, an ABS braking mark may be illuminated when the vehicle is undergoing ABS braking. In previous designs, this lighting was provided by individual lamps or LEDs that illuminate each indicator of the dashboard. The type of lighting used in these designs takes up significant space and can require a high voltage circuit to supply current to each of the lamps. A high voltage further requires insulation to protect against shock, thereby increasing the cost and size of the instrument cluster.
One alternative to the lamp illumination described above is the use of optical light guides to bring illumination to each of the display marks of the instrument cluster. However, in order to illuminate each mark individually, each mark requires its own light guide and light source. A typical example instrument cluster can have a significant number of separate indicators that require such lighting. Each light guide associated with each indicator is painstakingly assembled into the cluster one at a time. Consequently, the use of individual light guides requires a great deal of time and effort for assembly in the instrument cluster.